Cardboard Animal Sculptures

Vallières uses animal imagery to represent social and political issues. She says:

I sculpt monkeys, elephants and rhinoceroses, thinking about their human correspondents or the ideologies they represent.

We think Vallières sculptures are captivating and a brilliant use for discarded cardboard. We especially love the work she creates that incorporate original branding into the design aesthetic of the finished cardboard animal sculptures.

We really appreciate the detail that Vallières puts into her cardboard animal sculptures. Some of the pieces are left unfinished, with a raw cardboard finish, while others are painted and embellished. Either way it is evident how much time goes into each sculpture. This is especially evident when you take a look at Vallières’ artwork in progress. Each piece is made by cutting, layering and gluing pieces of cardboard.

The effort is especially impressive when you observe some of the larger-than-life pieces Vallières creates.

Last year Vallières made a huge impact at the Fresh Paint Gallery with a massive installation of apes attacking a life size car. This was a reference to the gallery’s feud over an artistic license with Chevrolet.

Vallières was inspired to start working with cardboard because of a dumpster close by to her studio. She likes to work with what she’s got and all these amazing boxes kept being dumped. So, she went with it. She has since been able to explore the potential of the medium and has this to say about working with cardboard:

“Cardboard is a great material. You can do anything in any size. At the same time, it’s very conceptual. I’m basically working from trash.”

We think Vallières is majorly talented and are inspired to create some cardboard sculptures ourselves. Have you upcycled with cardboard before? What do you think of the medium?

4 comments

I love how the pieces allow us to focus on the medium as well as the subject matter. The textures on the Gorilla’s fingers are a perfect example. We can see the corrugation which adds to the unique sense that it is cardboard, yet we also focus on the fact it is a gorilla. The works are quite enjoyable to look at and clearly they were a labor of love for the artist Vallières as it is evident she put a lot of creativity into making them.